He stood up, his steps slightly unsteady but not staggering—he didn’t seem too drunk.
Wen Yu stepped aside to make way for him. The wind was strong tonight, and a strand of hair at her temples was blown loose by the night breeze, slightly obscuring her vision. As she raised her hand to brush aside that stray lock, she suddenly felt a shadow fall before her, and a sharp alcoholic scent rushed to her nose.
Wen Yu’s heart leaped violently, and she had already retreated half a step, her entire back pressing against the door panel by the wall.
Xiao Li propped one arm against the doorframe. His tall frame, with his head lowered halfway, seemed to trap Wen Yu in this small space, the contours of his jaw outlined especially clearly by the firelight behind him.
The night wind caused their robes and garments to brush against each other.
Wen Yu’s entire body tensed, and even in the darkness, one could see her eyes full of wariness and sharpness.
But Xiao Li merely steadied himself against the doorframe, crouched down to pick up the door bolt that Wen Yu had dropped earlier, and after raising his eyes to see Wen Yu—who seemed like a creature with all its spines raised—said, “I’ll bar the door.”
As he spoke, he picked up the door bolt, stepped back, and went to close the other side of the gate.
A thin layer of sweat appeared on Wen Yu’s palms. She unconsciously slowed her breathing, yet still felt she could smell the faint scent of alcohol in the air.
Almost instinctively, she retreated two more steps before saying, “Then I’ll go in first.”
After speaking, she turned and quickly entered the house.
She gathered her sewing basket, wanting to quickly return to her own room, but Xiao Li had already barred the courtyard gate and entered the main house.
He seemed to have a headache after getting drunk. Without paying attention to Wen Yu, he lay down on the reclining chair by the fire pit, pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand. The frost and snow on his clothes melted when heated by the firelight, becoming damp, but he was too lazy to care.
His dampened hair, also wet from melted snow, drooped over his forehead, and suddenly added a hint of bedraggled wretchedness to his demeanor, like a homeless dog, to his usual arrogance and cold severity.
Wen Yu had originally intended to take her sewing basket into her room, but seeing this, she couldn’t help but hesitate.
With her current appearance, this hoodlum probably wouldn’t have any improper thoughts about her. What just happened… should have just been an accident.
He had given up his room to her until now. Leaving a half-drunk person lying here like this made Wen Yu feel somewhat guilty.
Therefore, after a moment’s hesitation, she quietly set down her sewing basket, used fire tongs to move the tripod that Xiao Huiniang usually used for cooking over the fire, and placed the teakettle on it to boil water.
When a kettle of hot water finished boiling, Wen Yu found a ceramic bowl, poured him a bowl, and set it on the long bench to cool. Feeling she had done all she reasonably could, she said, “I’ve boiled hot water for you. You should drink some later.”
After speaking, she was about to take her sewing basket back to her room when the person who had been lying with closed eyes suddenly opened them and looked at her back, saying, “You can read, can’t you?”
Wen Yu’s heart tightened slightly. Just as she was thinking about how to respond to this, she heard him say, “There’s a chest under the bed in your room. There’s a book inside. Go get it.”
This was no longer an inquiry or a test, but simply an instruction for her to do something.
Wen Yu couldn’t quite figure out his intention for a moment, so she took her sewing basket into the room and, as instructed, found the book he wanted.
Calling it a book—it actually didn’t even have a cover anymore. Wen Yu roughly flipped through it and discovered it was a volume of historical romance about the kings, nobles, generals, and ministers of various dynasties. The pages were old, and the printed ink was quite crude.
Wen Yu knew this type of storybook was very popular among common folk, and those storytellers could recite many of the stories in them by heart.
She didn’t know why this hoodlum wanted this storybook so late at night. After a brief moment of confusion, she still brought the book out: “I’ve brought the book for you. I’ll also put it on the long bench…”
“Read a passage for me.”
Before she could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by him. His voice had acquired a different kind of hoarseness after drinking. His long lashes covered his eyes, and even with them closed, his brow remained sharp.
For a moment, one couldn’t tell whether he had closed his eyes to rest or to think.
Wen Yu hesitated briefly between pretending to be unable to read and admitting she was literate, and chose the latter. This hoodlum was no fool. Wen Yu even vaguely felt that he must have already noticed that her origins were not simple, but he didn’t probe to the bottom of things, and at present, they were still living in relative peace.
Now that he had pointed out that she was literate, if she continued to play dumb and hide her abilities, it might instead cause him to investigate more about her.
She glanced at the young man on the reclining chair who still had his eyes closed, and said carefully, “I… only learned a few characters from my elder brother. I don’t know many.”
He simply said, “Just read.”
So Wen Yu, by the light of the oil lamp and the fire, began to read from that volume of historical romance: “Speaking of… what three sovereigns and five emperors, the glory of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. Heroes… what stirred up the Spring and Autumn period, rise and fall passed through hands in an instant. A few names in the annals of history…”
She pretended not to recognize those complex characters. Afraid of waking Xiao Huiniang, she kept her voice somewhat low. Her tone then acquired a certain husky quality amid its clarity and grace, mixed with a Luodu accent, adding several other flavors to it.
Outside, the snow raged and the wind howled. Cold wind seeping through the door crack caused the fire in the fire pit to flicker, yet only that clear, pleasant reading voice continued to sound in the room, neither hurried nor slow.
After finishing that first chapter, Wen Yu looked up at Xiao Li and found him lying with closed eyes, making no sound. She didn’t know if he had fallen asleep.
She didn’t ask anything more, just quietly placed the storybook on the long bench, added two more pieces of firewood to the fire pit, and then turned to enter her room.
Lying on the bed that wasn’t particularly soft but could keep out the cold, Wen Yu’s mind was still on the content of that historical romance. They say history serves as a mirror to understand rise and fall. Today’s people laugh at former kings and nobles, yet they don’t know how future generations will judge today’s kings, nobles, generals, and ministers.
Thinking of her parents and elder brother and sister-in-law trapped in Fengyang, Wen Yu felt her chest grow heavy with worry. On her journey to Southern Chen, even though protected by trusted confidants, she had experienced several assassination attempts. After falling into misfortune and ending up in the hands of Ren Yazi, she had been unable to sleep peacefully at night.
Tonight, her sorrowful thoughts were stirred up again. She only felt uncertain of how long she would continue drifting, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.
When she turned over again, facing the door as she slept, she inadvertently glimpsed a bit of firelight faintly penetrating through the door crack. Thinking that the hoodlum was sleeping on the reclining chair outside and no petty thieves would come to cause trouble, somehow, her heart inexplicably became much more peaceful.
Regardless of what the future might bring, at least for now, she could still find temporary security in this corner.
When dawn was just breaking, Xiao Li woke up.
The firewood in the fire pit had burned out, leaving only a scarlet ember in the white ashes.
Having made do sleeping on the reclining chair all night inevitably left his neck sore and aching. He sat up and raised his hand to rub his neck, his face no longer showing last night’s gloom.
Only when preparing to stand up did he see that bowl of water that had already cooled on the long bench, and he paused slightly.
He remembered last night’s book-reading voice settled amidst the sound of wind and snow.
Wind blew in through the door crack, causing ripples to form on the surface of the water in the bowl.
Xiao Li stared at that bowl of water for a long time before standing up. His hand reached into his lapel, preparing to take out the silver that Manager Han had given him yesterday to give to Xiao Huiniang, but he also touched a handkerchief.
He pulled both out to look. The bloodstains on the silk handkerchief were glaring, and the orchid embroidered at the corner of the handkerchief using Suzhou embroidery techniques was also particularly noticeable.
In that instant, he suddenly felt somewhat at a loss.
When light sounds came from Xiao Huiniang’s door, he reflexively tucked the handkerchief back into his lapel.
Seeing her son, Xiao Huiniang couldn’t help but nag, “What time did you come back last night? Why don’t you sleep a bit more?”
Xiao Li evaded, “Zheng Hu and the others asked me to drink. I came back a bit late.”
As he spoke, he handed the money pouch to Xiao Huiniang, saying, “New Year’s money from the manager.”
Xiao Huiniang weighed the money pouch and frowned, “Why is there so much? Huan’er, it’s one thing for you to work at the gambling house, but don’t get involved in other things.”
Xiao Li knew what Xiao Huiniang was referring to. He just gave a roguish smile and said, “Where are you thinking? I work hard for the manager, so naturally he appreciates me. With Brother Song gone, he even wants to promote me to Brother Song’s position!”
As the two were talking, the door curtain to the middle room was lifted. Wen Yu walked out and greeted them both, “Auntie, Second Master.”
Xiao Huiniang coughed and said, “A’Yu is up too.”
She instructed Xiao Li, “By the way, take A’Yu to the market later to look around. A’Yu needs to buy ink and brushes for drawing fan bases. The Fang family sister-in-law who does laundry says she’s sick and won’t be taking work until after New Year’s. I need to change all the bedding at home in a bit and take it to the river to wash.”
Her health wasn’t good to begin with, so Xiao Li naturally wouldn’t let her do this work. He frowned and said, “How did she suddenly fall ill?”
Xiao Huiniang said, “In this freezing cold weather, she’s always washing clothes for people. Her body isn’t made of iron—how could she not get sick?”
Xiao Li then said, “Then, Mother, just give me the bedding that needs washing. I’ll go wash it.”
Xiao Huiniang scolded him, “Didn’t I tell you to take A’Yu to buy ink and brushes?”
Just then, knocking sounds came from outside the courtyard, along with Xiao An’s loud voice: “Auntie, Second Brother!”
Xiao Li then said, “Let Xiao An take her.”
Xiao An entered carrying a bag of steaming hot buns. After greeting Xiao Li and Xiao Huiniang, he excitedly said to Wen Yu, “Sister A’Yu, I’ve found out the news!”
Hearing this, Wen Yu couldn’t help but raise her lashes slightly.
Xiao An set the buns on the table and, after sitting down, said in one breath, “The trade routes to Fengyang have been blocked. There’s no news coming out from there yet, but Luodu is in chaos. I heard that Pei Song, the Military Commissioner of Ezhou who attacked the Luodu palace, saw a portrait of Princess Hanyang in the Shanghua Palace and fell in love at first sight. Unfortunately, Princess Hanyang had already fled to Fengyang with Prince Changlian. So Pei Song ordered painters to copy Princess Hanyang’s portrait and is now searching everywhere for women who resemble Princess Hanyang.”
Xiao Huiniang poured him a bowl of hot tea. After drinking it, he wiped his mouth and continued, “I heard from the traveling merchants at the tile market that in the prefectures that have submitted to Pei Song, Princess Hanyang’s portrait is posted at the city gates. If any common girl resembles Princess Hanyang and it’s reported to the authorities, one can receive a reward of ten taels. There are even soldiers patrolling the streets. Any woman with her face covered must be stopped and questioned.”
After finishing, he said with some contempt, “That Military Commissioner of Ezhou really is a lecher starving for women!”
Hearing all this, Wen Yu felt a chill run up her spine.
Pei Song was looking for her!
He knew she had secretly gone to Southern Chen to borrow troops. As long as he intercepted her, her father and brothers wouldn’t have reinforcements and couldn’t hold out for long.
Perhaps seeing that her expression looked too terrible, Xiao An scratched the back of his head and asked somewhat bewildered, “Um… Sister A’Yu, is this news not useful?”